Man Looking To Win Wife-Carrying Championship

Michael Maloney and his fiancée Johnna Powell-Maloney will be competing in this weekend's Wife Carrying Championships. Photo: Enterprise News

The winning couple could take home over one hundred pounds of beer and a lot of cash.

Michael Maloney and his fiancée Johnna Powell-Maloney will be competing in this weekend's Wife Carrying Championships. Photo: Enterprise News

Doug Johnson loves his wife–so much so that he is willing to run while carrying her 278 yards, through a field of obstacles, as fast as humanly possible. This strange event, a “wife carrying” contest, which has origins in Finland, actually has a North American Championship that is being held at the Sunday River Ski Resort this Saturday in Maine.

Were Johnson to win the race, he and his partner would take home her weight in beer and five times her weight in cash.

“It is really harder than it looks, which is one of the reasons Doug wanted to enter,” said his wife, Donna.

Another couple going for the beer and cash is Michael Maloney and his fiancée Johnna Powell-Maloney. Both seasoned marathoners, who met during an ultra-marathon through the Sahara Desert, the Maloneys are employing unconventional tactics to maximize their prize.

“We’ll stuff her pockets with quarters after we win to take advantage of the beer prize!” Michael said.